Students who don't want to cut up animals for class shouldn' have to, say animal-rights advocates at the University of Maryland at College Park.Animal-rights advocates will ask the College Park Campus Senate today to change its policy and have instructors offer alternatives to students who object to working with animals."

Using live pigs to train future doctors in surgery is unethical and unnecessary, members of a health and animal rights group said Thursday during a protest of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says Hopkins is one of four schools around the country that still use animals in training. About two dozen doctors and others held signs outside Johns Hopkins Hospital reading "Baltimore Deserves Better" and "End Animal Labs.

Students who don't want to cut up animals for class shouldn't have to, say animal-rights advocates at the University of Maryland at College Park.Animal-rights advocates will ask the College Park Campus Senate today to change its policy and have instructors offer alternatives to students who object to working with animals."

PETA is calling on a Cockeysville retirement community to let its pet finches spread their wings and leave the cage. The animal rights organization, which alleges the birds are being kept in inhumane conditions, is urging its members to contact the management at Broadmead. The retirement home says the animals are well cared for and are a highlight for residents. PETA first raised concerns about the birds a decade ago, said Dan Paden, a senior researcher at the organization. A Broadmead resident complained to management this spring, Paden said, and the group got involved again.

FOR 14 YEARS I've carried the label "HIV positive" and all the baggage that goes with it. But through the darkest of moments I could always depend on one symbol to lift my spirits -- the tiny red ribbon worn by compassionate people throughout the country, but especially by Hollywood celebrities. To me, the ribbon -- worn as a sign of compassion for people with AIDS -- had always been a reminder that when much of the world turned its back on those suffering from the disease, or simply lost interest, Hollywood opened her arms and kept the world's attention focused on this terrible plague.

Elise T. Chisolm, in her column on Page C1 today, argues that the medical benefits to humans far outweigh the rights of animals used in research and testing. She cites the discovery of insulin as an example.Do you agree with her? Or do you agree with the animal rights activists?To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County) up until midnight tonight. It's a free call. After you hear the greeting, you'll be asked to punch in a four-digit code on your touch-tone phone.

Zoo and aquarium officials from around the country are becoming increasingly concerned about how to deal with attacks by animal-rights groups that oppose keeping wildlife in captivity. At a regional conference in Baltimore this week, a Cleveland zoo official said zoos are "doing wonderful things" but the message is not getting out to the public.The Evening Sun would like to know what you think. Should zoos and aquariums be abolished? Or do you feel their educational role outweighs the restrictions faced by animals in captivity?

A few minutes after 1 o'clock yesterday, a small Chevrolet whipped around the side of the Baltimore Convention Center and came to a stop.Two white rabbits and their companion, a dusky-colored mouse, leaped out of the car with sledgehammers in hand and TC proceeded to bludgeon the car to bits during the next half-hour.The costumed performers were calling attention to the General Motors Corp.'s use of animals in the testing of its products. They were members of the Rockville-based animal rights group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, which staged the protest outside the annual International Auto Show to embarrass thecar manufacturer.

A dozen animal rights protesters gathered in Towson yesterday and toasted the closing of Mano Swartz, the family-owned furrier that will cease operating after 103 years.Bundled against the wind-chilled temperatures, members of Maryland Forum for Animals, based in Catonsville, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), based in Rockville, celebrated for two hours outside the red-brick store at 424 York Road.They danced and pranced, tooting party horns. They chanted, "Compassion is fashion; Let's toast compassion!"

Ann E. Jensen, a homemaker and animal-rights advocate, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The Evergreen resident was 86. Born Anna Elizabeth Trabert in East Baltimore, she was a 1938 Seton High School graduate who earned an associate's degree in journalism at the old Mount Saint Agnes College in Mount Washington. She also attended Strayer Business School. Many years ago, she worked for developer James Rouse at his Moss Rouse Co., a mortgage business.

Michelle and Larry Kownacki first got involved with the Animal Legal Defense Fund in 2005, when they became foster parents for Gentle Ben, a Jack Russell terrier who had been hoarded and neglected. They chose the name because the dog, one of more than 300 crammed into a South Carolina home, lacked the feistiness typical of Jack Russells. That didn't last long. Over the years, Gentle Ben gained health and personality. He also became the mascot for the annual benefit the Kownackis hold in Annapolis to raise money for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Ann M. Klingaman, a retired Baltimore County public school educator whose career spanned more than three decades, died Sunday of complications from a broken hip at Gilchrist Hospice in Columbia. The former longtime Catonsville resident was 88. The daughter of a West Baltimore pharmacist and a homemaker, Ann Rebecca Meeth was born in Baltimore and raised in Catonsville. She was a 1940 graduate of Catonsville High School and earned a bachelor's degree in 1944 from what was then Western Maryland College.

Alvin Turner "Al" Church, a retired Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. surveyor, died Monday of complications from skin cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The longtime Cockeysville resident was 64. The son of Glenn L. Martin Co. workers, Mr. Church was born in Wilkesboro, N.C., and moved with his family to Baltimore in the early 1950s; they settled in 1955 in Catonsville. He was a 1966 graduate of Catonsville High School and attended what was then Catonsville Community College.

HBO's horse-racing series Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman, came to an abrupt end Wednesday after the death of a third horse during filming earlier in the week. Here's the statement issued by HBO: It is with heartbreak that executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann together with HBO have decided to cease all future production on the series LUCK. Safety is always of paramount concern. We maintained the highest safety standards throughout production, higher in fact than any protocols existing in horseracing anywhere with many fewer incidents than occur in racing or than befall horses normally in barns at night or pastures. While we maintained the highest safety standards possible, accidents unfortunately happen and it is impossible to guarantee they won't in the future. Accordingly, we have reached this difficult decision. We are immensely proud of this series, the writing, the acting, the filmmaking, the celebration of the culture of horses, and everyone involved in its creation. Quote from Michael Mann and David Milch: “The two of us loved this series, loved the cast, crew and writers. This has been a tremendous collaboration and one that we plan to continue in the future.” When asked for clarification via email, an HBO spokeswoman said this is the end of "Luck.

Katherina Cox , of Cockeysville, has completed the requirements to be named an ASQ-certified Quality Auditor. This professional recognition indicates she has achieved a high level of proficiency in quality-auditing practices. Cox is employed by Taylor Technologies, the Sparks, Maryland-based manufacturer of water testing supplies. Milto Troop 4094 of Community 91 Achieved Gold Jena Lafferty, Lisa Litwak and Margaret Wright of Girl Scout Troop 4094 will receive the Girl Scout Gold Award in the spring.

An animal-rights group contends that an elephant performing in Baltimore with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus poses a health risk to the public because she has tested positive for tuberculosis, but circus and government health officials say the animal is no threat because she does not have an active form of the infectious disease. Karen, a 42-year-old Asian elephant, tested positive for TB in a blood test but negative in a follow-up test known as a trunk wash, which involves taking a culture of saline solution run through the animal's trunk.

A former state health secretary and a physicians group that supports animal rights are calling on the city prosecutor to investigate the Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine, claiming it illegally uses live animals to train surgeons. Martin Wasserman and his wife, Barbara, both physicians and both Hopkins alumni, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine say the practice violates the state's animal cruelty law. "JHU regularly violates Maryland law by [causing]

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is offering to help keep Baltimore's city-owned Edgar Allan Poe House open, provided the group is allowed to display an ad promoting a vegan diet. In a letter sent Monday to Poe House curator Jeff Jerome, PETA officials offered to "help a little bit" in the effort to keep the financially strapped Poe House open. In return for that help, PETA proposes, the house would display a sign featuring a man clutching at his chest; the accompanying message would read, "The Tell-Tale Heart of a Meat-Eater.